This article reports that Temple University, like several other urban institutions, has revamped its core curriculum to focus on its location. The "Creative Spirit" course, which fills the university's arts requirement, is one of about 30 courses in Temple's new core curriculum that are taking students off the campus and into the heart…

The NEAIR (North East Association for Institutional Research) 2012 Conference Proceedings is a compilation of papers presented at the Bethesda, Maryland conference. Papers in this document include: (1) Can a Marketing Campaign Increase Response Rates to Online Course Evaluations? (Kimberly Puhala); (2) Developing Community College Peer…

Evaluative statements from alumni have legitimacy with both internal and external stakeholders. Thus, alumni studies can provide valuable evidence of institutional effectiveness and lend themselves to both locally designed and commercial survey instruments for data collection. Under ideal conditions, the results of alumni studies equip faculty and…

The intent of the authors in preparing this paper is to compare and contrast the roles of Institutional Research in informing decision making and governance in higher education. Using a case study format the authors will provide an example of a research project conducted within each of the following sectors of United States higher education…

Despite the substantial amount of work which has been conducted into teachers' research engagement in mainstream education, this topic has been awarded scant attention in the field of English language teaching. This paper presents the results of a survey representing the first stage of multi-method investigation of research engagement in ELT.…

Community colleges can use market surveys to better understand the delivery of library services from the standpoint of the end user. One such survey, LibQUAL+, measures library service in three dimensions: 1. Affect of Service (patron interaction with library staff); 2. Information Control (availability of needed resources and ease of accessing);…

The theory of student involvement (Astin, 1984) acknowledges that as students devote sufficient time and energy to educationally purposeful activities, they can expect to make desirable gains throughout the college years. Participation in campus clubs and organizations is one form of involvement found to be associated with a host of learning and…

The Association for Institutional Research conducted a survey of all institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Canada in order to assess the number, size, and financial support of institutional research offices. Data were requested for the 1969-70 academic year. This report is based on the responses of 1,444 institutions that returned the…

This paper presents the results of a study that investigated challenges institutional researchers encounter in their careers, resources for coping with these challenges, and the impact of the challenges on engagement in policy. Data were from a mailed survey sent to 304 institutional researchers in the northeastern United States to which 221…

Reports on a poll of education students regarding their job plans and their attitudes toward extending the teacher preparation period. (MB)

The NEAIR (North East Association for Institutional Research) 2011 Conference Proceedings is a compilation of papers presented at the Boston, Massachusetts conference. Papers in this document include: (1) Are Students Dropping Out or Dragging Out the College Experience? The Roles of Socioeconomic Status and Academic Background (Leslie S. Stratton…

This second report in a series is designed to inform the college of certain opinions held by former students. A 38-item questionnaire was sent to 2288 non-graduate alumni; only 376 (16%) replied. In spite of the small return, a few pertinent observations can be made on the results of the analysis. From the meager response, it appears that most…

Designed as an aid to researchers in locating other individuals who may be able and willing to share their experience and expertise, this directory presents information on Southern California community college institutional researchers. The information presented in the directory was provided by the 44 respondents to a questionnaire sent to all…

This monograph on institutional research in junior colleges examines research practices, presents examples, and makes recommendations for organizing the support of such activities. The need for this kind of research is documented and its uses are highlighted. Of 83 randomly selected colleges, 70 reported by telephone interview on their current…

The Proceedings of this conference are intended to serve as a basis for further study, discussion, and action regarding the role of student-oriented institutional research in Florida colleges and universities. The first paper outlines the methods, dimensions, and benefits of studying student characteristics. The second paper traces the factors…